The nine-day Brahmotsavam at Tirumala, the abode of Lord Venkateswara, drew to a close with 'Chakrasnanam' at the pushkarini here on Sunday.
At the crack of the dawn, the idols of Lord Malayappa and hisconsorts along with Chakrathalwar were taken out in a grand procession to the temple of Sri Bhu Varaha swamy.
After the completion of the rituals, the priests performed 'Snapana Thirumanjanam' followed by Chakrasnanam.
Tens of thousands of devotees who had congregated on the steps of the temple tank waited patiently for the auspicious moment and took a holy dip in the tank waters no sooner the idol of Lord Chakrathalwar was immersed.
The temple management deployed expert swimmers at the tank as a precuationery measure.
Talking to the media, TTD Executive officer Anil Kumar Singhal attributed the success of the festival to the coordinated efforts of TTD, the police and APSRTC.
The suggestions given by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu naidu during his recent visit as well as over the telephone were very useful and followed in their letter and spirit.
He said the hundi inside the temple had recorded an income of ₹18.70 crore during the past eight days. About 6.21 lakh devotees had the darshan of the main deity, and about 3.06 lakh had their heads tonsured at the kalyanaktta. An estimated of 14.62 lakh devotees were provided with free food and 15.70 lakh devotees served with beverages in addition to nine lakh free food packets. The APSRTC had ferried a total of 5.66 lakh devotees from Tirupati to Tirumala.
All the religious proceedings that have dominated the entire festival period have been well documented and preserved for the posterity.
Mr. Singhal said though the statistics reflect a decrease in the turnout of the pilgrim crowd, it was negligible going by the statistics and the flawless arrangements made for the mega festival.